Startup Open, a competition that searches for startups with the greatest growth potential, chose 50 companies to compete for the opportunity to present their business plans to experienced entrepreneurs, and gain insight from the experts. Here is a sampling of the 50 , representing a range of ideas from around the world.

An entrepreneurial ecosystem has sprouted in what some would say is a most unexpected community. It has all the elements of a large city effort, including support for technology startups as well as the 98 percent of startups that are not technology-based.

Some 88 million young women and men worldwide are unemployed — 47 percent of the unemployed globally. Economic leaders have been stumped as to what to do about it. Now Generation Y is taking matters into its own hands.

Shortly after the Icelandic economy crashed in 2008, we founded our first company. Call us crazy, but in the midst of thousands losing their jobs and the first en masse public protest against the government since Iceland’s induction into NATO in 1949, we decided to start a board game company. It was a blast.

Many long-time serial entrepreneurs are today's angel investors and venture capitalists — and the classroom gives them an early glimpse at the potential next big names in emerging fields. Here are 11 notable entrepreneurs who have taken to the classroom.

A new apprenticeship program called [E]nstitute pairs 11 students — who live together in a loft near Wall Street — with New York’s top technology entrepreneurs for two years, then launches them into the startup world.

While Silicon Valley and other traditional high-tech hubs claim dominance as places for startups, demand for health care and other business services has put places like Indianapolis and Salt Lake City on the entrepreneurial map.

With people feeling healthier and living longer, coupled with a down economy that has reduced retirement savings, many Americans of traditional retirement age are choosing to continue working or even go back to work — for themselves.

According to startup tracking website SeedTable, 127 startups have set up shop in New York in the last 12 months. CNBC's Melissa Lee talks to Alexa Von Toble, founder and CEO of Learnvest.com, and Mark Hedlund of Etsy. Welcome to Silicon "square."

CNBC's Michelle Caruso-Cabrera talks with Walter Isaacson, Aspen Institute, and Craig Barrett, Fmr. Chairman of Intel Corp, about ways the nation can provide every American the opportunity to achieve the best education in the world.